History VideoGame / DukeNukem3D

* OneBulletClips: Since ''Duke 3D'' was one of the first "Doom clone"-era shooters where any of its weapons - the pistol in this case - required an actual reloading animation, this was bound to happen. And it's done rather oddly - rather than individually tracking the twelve bullets, the weapon is simply coded to play the reloading animation when the ammo counter for it is brought down to a multiple of twelve. Strangely, your maximum ammo for the pistol isn't divisible by twelve, so at full ammo Duke carries around a good number of fully-loaded mags, plus one that's down-loaded to eight rounds which he'll load first - and if you can consistently kill enemies who drop pistol mags within those eight shots, he can continue firing far more bullets than he should be able to from the mag that's supposedly carrying less ammo.

!!This game shows examples of:

* NoNameGiven: Strangely enough, while ''Duke Nukem I'' names the main enemies the ''Techbots'' and Duke Nukem II names the aliens he faces the ''Rigelatins'', the alien race in Duke Nukem 3D is never given a real name. One FanNickname for them seems to be "''Alien Bastards''", after what he calls them for shooting up his ride at the start of the game.

* AnachronismStew: A minor example, but Duke Nukem oddly says "groovy" at times when picking up a weapon/powerup, despite the game taking place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and Duke being in his 20s or 30s at most[[note]]VideoGame/DukeNukemI was set in 1997[[/note]].

* DeadEndRoom: In the [=XBox=] Live Arcade version, it was found that [=E4L9=] (Critical Mass) had an UnwinnableByMistake scenario; that level involves getting past a room which collapses behind you, so that there's no way back. Unfortunately, dying sends you back to the start of the level and you are thus required to get past the collapsing room again -- which in multiplayer is no longer possible as the level doesn't reset. In deathmatch this isn't a problem as there's a switch which opens a teleport to bypass the collapsing room, but the designers forgot to make this available in co-op. When the [[http://legacy.3drealms.com/duke3d/walkthrough/ walkthrough]] was written, this mistake was found and corrected.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: The gravity on the moon is no different from Earth. Likely this is due to technical limitations.

* MoonLandingHoax: An area of the Hollywood level includes a movie set containing fake lunar scenery with an American flag and the lunar module standing there...[[AvertedTrope except you visit the ACTUAL moon in Episode 2, complete with human-made moon base]].

* AnachronismStew: A minor example, but Duke Nukem oddly says "groovy" at times when picking up a weapon/powerup, despite the game taking place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and Duke being in his 20s or 30s at most[[note]]DukeNukemI was set in 1997[[/note]].

''"It's time to kick ass and ChewBubblegum, and I'm all out of gum!"''\\

* FamousLastWords: The [[EarlyBirdBoss Battlelord]] says "Who the hell are you?" before Duke blows his brains out. Which creates a bit of a PlotHole as earlier you see a hologram of the Battlelord who addresses Duke by name, so how would he not know who he is?

* LaserSight: Appears in Duke's pistol in Lameduke but is DummiedOut in the final game.

* BrickJoke: [[PreAsskickingOneLiner Before facing]] the Overlord in Episode 2, Duke says "I’ll rip your head off and shit down your neck!" After beating it, he does.

* BalisticWeaponsAreJustBetter: A zigzagged example, the alien invaders have soldiers equipped with [[EnergyWeapon energy-based weapons]], but they also used balistic weapons such as the Ripper, RPG, and Grenades. High-ranking enemies such as the Battlelords favor Rippers and Grenade Launchers.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duke-nukem-3d-1.jpg]]

** The Australian version [[AvertedTrope cut the sexual content out entirely]].

* {{Bowdlerise}}: ''64'' removed the nudity, alcohol, drugs, swearing and religious references[[note]] One example is the game's second level; the porn shop and "Gentleman's Club" were replaced with a gun shop and a walk-in Duke Burger restaurant (the layout was the same except for adding a door to the Duke-Burger out near the start of the level), and the level was renamed "Gun Crazy"; it ends the same unless you find the Secret Exit near the main exit (which goes to the Duke-Burger level from [=EP4=], which has been moved up to this point since there's no [=EP4=] on this version). [[/note]]; making the weapons have no effect on women; and toning down the gore as well. The {{Stripperific}} attire and LudicrousGibs remained, though.

* AnachronismStew: A minor example, but Duke Nukem oddly says "groovy" at times when picking up a weapon/powerup, despite the game taking place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and Duke being in his 20s or 30s at most.

* MoonLandingHoax: An area of the Hollywood level includes a movie set containing fake lunar scenery with an American flag and the lunar module standing there...[[AvertedTrope except you visit the ACTUAL moon in Episode 2]].

* WritersCannotDoMath: The previous game took place in 1998[[note]]the first game's intro stated it took place in 1997, and ''II'' opens up by stating it had been a year since Duke had killed Doctor Proton[[/note]], and while it's never stated how long Duke's vacation was, calendars in the game set the game in ''2046'', meaning at a bare minimum, Duke should be in his late 60s[=/=]early 70s[[note]]although considering we never learn where he went on Vacation, and he's introduced with his space shuttle having been shot down, it's entirely possible that his vacation took place on a planet with a year that's significantly longer than an Earth year[[/note]].

The game also got several console ports, such as ''Duke Nukem 64'' (UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}}), ''Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown'' (UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}}) and versions for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade, and mobile platforms.

In March 2013, an officially sanctioned 3D-accelerated UsefulNotes/OpenGL port of the game and all its expansion packs, with PC support for downloading mods through the Steam Workshop, was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/PlaystationVita as the "Megaton Edition". The port was done by the indie group Devolver Digital, who are probably best known for publishing the indie hit ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' (and, ironically, ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'', which was known for its {{Take That}}s at ''Forever''[='=]s perennially-delayed release). However, Devolver eventually lost the license for this edition and it was pulled from Steam and the UsefulNotes/PlaystationNetwork in early 2016.

In March 2013, an officially sanctioned 3D-accelerated UsefulNotes/OpenGL port of the game and all its expansion packs, with PC support for downloading mods through the Steam Workshop, was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/PlaystationVita as the "Megaton Edition". The port was done by the indie group Devolver Digital, who are probably best known for publishing the indie hit ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' (and, ironically, ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'', which was known for its {{Take That}}s at ''Forever''[='=]s perennially-delayed release). However, Devolver eventually lost the license for this edition and it was pulled from Steam and the UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork in early 2016.

In March 2013, an officially sanctioned 3D-accelerated UsefulNotes/OpenGL port of the game and all its expansion packs, with support for downloading mods through the Workshop, was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} as the "Megaton Edition". The port was done by the indie group Devolver Digital, who are probably best known for publishing the indie hit ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' (and, ironically, ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'', which was known for its {{Take That}}s at ''Forever''[='=]s perennially-delayed release). However, Devolver eventually lost the license for this edition and it was pulled from Steam in early 2016.

--> ''"My name is Duke Nukem, and after a few days of R&R, I'll be ready for more action"''